A Portrait Of A Lady
by Octavia-Snape
Summary: Hogwarts holds many mysteries all of which intrigue Luna. When Luna discovers the Portrait of the Lady she becomes obsessed with discovering who it is. But will she like the answer? And who is the mysterious lady? HpSandman crossover.


Disclaimer: I, Octavia-Snape, do not own Luna Lovegood or anything else from the Harry Potter world. I also do not own the Endless, they pretty much own themselves but I think Gaiman, Keith and Dringenberg have a claim on them. Gaiman again, God I hate that man for being so talented, and McManus own the Thessalian witch.  
  
Author Notes: If you haven't read the Sandman, then you should and if you haven't read Harry Potter- then why are you here? Read, review and generally give me some feedback. It's nice to know if one is appreciated or not as the case may be. Your author Octavia-Snape  
  
A Portrait Of A Lady  
  
There are many things that enthral and fascinate Luna Lovegood and the majority of those items lay in Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry; her school. Hogwarts was home to many things; ghosts, staircases that move, paintings that truly echo life, statues and other various oddities. All of this interests Luna 'Loony' Lovegood, whose perception and insight is far superior to any others including the Headmaster, but what truly interests her was a portrait. A Portrait Of A Lady.  
  
There are many intriguing portraits at Hogwarts and many of them as dangerous as the books they keep bound in the Library but for some reason they are not kept out of sight or hidden. For example on the third floor, just before the 'forbidden' corridor, there is a unmoving painting of a young girl with mismatched eyes- her appearance changes frequently but it is the same girl, the same mismatched eyes staring, hauntingly, through the canvas.  
  
And then near the dungeons a painting of a fat naked woman surrounded by mirrors, blood oozing from festering wounds and rats crawling over her feet and legs. The painting moves slowly; people appear in the mirrors looking despairingly- Luna had even once swore she had seen Harry Potter there but the woman cares little and only moves to hurt herself or to eat the rats that cover her lower body- that painting chills Luna. That painting reminds her of sorrow and of things she would rather forget.  
  
Directly Opposite the painting of the chilling woman is a, well its hard to describe- it is neither man nor woman but extremely remarkable. She or he dresses in genderless clothes but stares at you so intently with amber eyes, his or her eyes really do follow you around the room. Lots of students, apparently come to watch the picture but are quickly turned back to the gaze of its opposite. Its rather terrifying standing between those two sibling paintings, both drawing you to gaze at them, it had sent a few people to overnight stays at the Hospital Wing. Not all things are safe in Hogwarts.  
  
Even more curious is the empty portrait near the Hufflepuff Common Room; it has no title, no artist mark, nothing. The whole painting is based on nothingness, or rather that there was something there but decided to move on to better or at least different things.  
  
A painting near the Astronomy Tower just before the entrance to the classroom is of two men; one, prominently in the foreground, dressed all in white with white hair and strange eyes and the second, lost almost in the background, dressed all in black with black hair and similar creepy eyes. Whilst the one in the foreground moves often and disappears frequently out of the picture, the other sits very still and merely observes, almost as if the paintings world is no longer available to him. The title of the piece is simply called 'Dream'.  
  
But although all these paintings call Luna to look at them, none call her so much as the Lady's painting. The Lady wears dark old-fashioned black robes, with a cloak off her wild unruly mane of black hair. Despite her old dress sense, she wears what looks like a pair of Muggle boots. The Lady though attracts her because of her eyes and the necklace. Despite it only being a painting, Luna can see that those eyes know everything about you, your life and your existence and that necklace; the necklace is so full of power the air practically buzzes with it.  
  
Luna has viewed this painting no less than Five Hundred and Seventy Five times, during her entire stay at Hogwarts, which isn't much as she is sorely tempted every day of term to spend all day staring at the lady willing her to come out of the painting. Luna has looked for the artist's signature but has never found it nor ever found out what it is entitled. Luna hates mysteries and so the Lady fascinates her even more.  
  
The times are growing dark though, the darkness is rising from beneath and the Lady's happy smile grows troubled. Luna finds herself visiting this painting even more these days, she barely remembers what is taught in class only thinking of the Lady; her Lady alone in a Painting. She of course has asked the other portraits about the Lady but they all reply in grim terms that 'they' should be left alone. And Luna often wonders who 'they' are.  
  
Luna returns alone, now at night, to view the painting of the Lady but she is gone from her painting. There is emptiness where she should be as if the rest of the painting had been painted around the enticing creature and that now she is gone, the painting is unfinished without her. Luna wonders who could have done such a thing to such a painting but her question is unanswered. Luna returns to the Common Room unsatisfied and wanting.  
  
Luna learns the next day that Cho Chang has committed suicide up by the Astronomy Tower, apparently they did try talking to the two Portrait Men who reside there but they were resolute in their silence. Luna returns to the painting, the Lady has returned and still has that solemn look on her face. Though Luna longs to ask the question of where the Lady had gone, she knows it is futile. Though some paintings talk, some choose not to and others are silenced like that girl by the third floor she often tries to talk but nothing ever comes out. Luna thinks the girl doesn't like that.  
  
Luna stares at the painting and leaves as the bell rings for classes, she has missed lunch again but she does not really care that much. If the world is ending, as many believe, then why should she bother with such a menial task especially when she could be doing far interesting things like viewing the Lady. Luna sits dully in class, listening to Professor Binns drone on about the Mythical Endless family who are all encompassing and will always be there. Most scoff at Crackpot Binns as they do Luna but not for long, there are terrible things coming.  
  
Luna once again returns, although she does not know it is for the last time. The Lady has once again gone and Luna is disappointed, however a man has replaced the Lady. A man chained to a book, clothed in brown robes and reading slowly to himself. Luna is fascinated and reaches out to touch the painting.  
  
"Haven't you ever heard that curiosity killed the cat?" A voice asks Luna from behind her.   
  
As Luna turns she realises where the painting of her Lady has gone, the Lady is standing behind her though the drab robes are gone instead are black Muggle jeans and t-shirt with her ever prominent necklace. Luna studies the necklace; it is the symbol of life- the ankh. And then Luna realises what she should have known all along, the clues had been there for her to see.  
  
"Death. Your Death... am I-" Luna trails off scared now at the answer.  
  
"No, not yet anyway." The Lady or more correctly Death, replies. Death sighs and runs a cold hand through Luna's long mane of hair. "You shouldn't be doing this, waiting Luna for me- it does you no good. Why obsess over what you will have soon enough?"  
  
"How long do I have?" Luna asks though her tongue wills her to stop. The Lady will leave her if she is impertinent.  
  
"A lifetime, what everyone gets but what you, like that bloody Thessalian witch, are doing is squandering it. You're alive, so live."  
  
"How?"  
  
"I don't know find a nice boy or girl, join a rock band, become the next Minister of Magic, anything Luna. Just live, stop grieving and live."  
  
"You make it sound so easy," Luna says almost bitterly nearly saying the words inside her head. 'You don't know what it's like, you can't live.'  
  
"It is Luna, it's what humans are born to do. To live then to die." Death says almost treating her kindly but impatiently, the stars used to fear her but no longer- they thought she was weak. Well the darkness was rising and soon they would fear her again. They would all fear Death.  
  
Luna looks at Death and sees past the girl outside, past the swirl of black makeup round her eye, sees past the clear eyes that know you and sees the world ending.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Don't come back here Luna, grieve for her and live. That's all you can do."  
  
"I..." Luna stumbles back from the Lady she loved, stumbles back from the comforting embrace of death and turns and runs back to the Common Room- back to life.  
  
When Luna wakes the next morning she wanders the castle aimlessly and notices something, which intrigues her. There are several paintings missing from the School; a painting near the third floor corridor of a girl named Delirium, two paintings from the Dungeon of a woman named Despair and her twin sibling Desire, a blank painting near the Hufflepuff Common Room entitled Destruction, a painting of two men both named Dream by the Astronomy tower, a painting of the Lady Death in the Room Of Requirement and a private painting of Destiny from Headmaster Dumbledore's office. It is curious but she does not dwell on it for long as she has a life to live.  
  
Luna remembers something Harry once asked her when they were both wallowing in grief. He asked her how long a person gets. She now knows the answer but she doubts she'll ever tell him. You get what everyone else gets Harry. You get a lifetime. 


End file.
